Review: “Paper Towns” by John Green

Thumbs up for Paper Towns by John Green. Young adult.

It seems unwise to try to synopsize this book. I picked it up expecting one sort of story, but it went in another direction entirely when Margo turned up at Q’s window in the middle of the night wearing black face paint. Then it took another turn, and another. It is an oddly believable, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful book that touches on many things you may not expect to find in a YA novel, including Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the nature of identity vs perception, cartography, and Wikipedia (sorry – I mean Omnictionary). Whatever your age, read it if you like some thinking along with your fun.

Margo puffed out her cheeks and sighed. “Right, but the thing is that my parents have taken the keys to my car and locked them inside a safe, which they put under their bed, and Myrna Mountweazel” – who was her dog – “is sleeping inside their room. And Myrna Mountweazel has a freaking aneurysm whenever she catches sight of me. I mean, I could totally sneak in there and steal the safe and crack it and get my keys out and drive away, but the thing is that it’s not even worth trying because Myrna Mountweazel is just going to bark like crazy if I so much as crack open the door. So like I said, I need a car. Also, I need you to drive it, because I have to do eleven things tonight, and at least five of them involve a getaway man.”